"Unhappy Wrack": Re-Reading The Tempest in New Millennium Poland

Abstract

This article begins by outlining political changes in Europe, specifically in Poland, where nationalist movements, tinged with Neo-Facist tendencies were rising after its inclusion in the European Union. In 1995 and 1997, the German director Karin Beier staged multinational, multilingual productions of A Midsummer Night's Dream and The Tempest as metaphors for the challenges facing a 'united Europe ideal'. Targanski and Guntner examine "The Shakespeers"'s production of The Tempest at the School of English at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan. "The Shakespeers" are a student drama group who performed predominantly comedies until The Tempest. Targanski, who directed the play made bold cuts, shortening the play to just seventy-five minutes, and omitting several iconic scenes. The production, as a result, was minimalistic, designed to "expose the falsehood of the self-righteous claims of 'justice for 'our' nation by Polish, neo-Facist, parties." The article also discusses alternate gender castings, for example, Caliban being played by an attractive woman, which aimed to destabilise notions of aesthetic beauty, and Ariel becoming a shared role, played by a man and a woman. The article, as a final note, encourages the reader to consider amateur performances as daring, and potentially subversive, as in the case of Targanski's production.